Former chef Marco Da Rocha met the man who was to send his life into a sinister, downward spiral when they worked together for three days for an job agency in Droitwich.

He never regarded Joao De Oliveira as a close friend but as someone he could drink with, fuelling his own alcohol problem in city bars and nightclubs.

The pair had the Portuguese language in common, but little else. "You can't have a good chat or dialogue with him," he said.

"But I have to use that crazy man over here to speak."

Just hours before he was arrested as a murder suspect, Mr Da Rocha contacted the head of his family, an aunt in Rio de Janeiro, on an internet webcam for advice.

"She said those friends of yours are no good," he recalled. "I ask my mother for help to stop drinking. I am always asking for help... always, always."

His outburst revealed a child-like dependence on others, and illustrated how cunning killer De Oliveira could easily take advantage of the weak-willed father-of-three.

Control freak De Oliveira was always ordering Mr Da Rocha about and saw him as "the fall-guy" for his evil crime, trying to paint a picture of a man bent on revenge after a drunken clash with the victim.

But Mr Da Rocha insisted: "I have never had a weapon in my life. I never liked weapons. I come from a city where there's carnival, always happiness. I like to see people happy."

Born in Rio, he left school at the age of 14 and began working in restaurants, trying to learn English, although his progress was slow.

He cried as he talked of his first doomed marriage, which produced two sons, now aged 14 and 15.

Mr Da Rocha left Brazil when his wife ditched him for his best friend and travelled to Portugal where his mother was living in Lisbon.

There he met his second Brazilian wife - a teacher and artist - and got married.

Because his grandfather was Portuguese, Mr Da Rocha qualified for entry into Britain under EU rules.

His wife followed him to live in Taunton, Somerset, and they had a daughter, now aged three.

Mr Da Rocha's mother moved to Worcester and persuaded him to come because of job availability.

He worked in factories making cakes, toys and processing onions, but eventually his wife and daughter returned to Brazil because he had not met with the kind of success he dreamed of.

Mr Da Rocha recalled De Oliveira boasting in pubs that he was a serial killer. He claimed he mentioned deaths in Germany and Portugal - but put it down to drink-inspired pub talk.

He also remembered his co-accused handing round photographs of beautiful women, claiming each was his latest sexual conquest.

When De Oliveira met Angela Maggs for the first time in the Worcester pub, he shocked his pal by kissing her within 15 minutes.

"Never have I seen something so quick," said Mr Da Rocha. "In Brazil you would have to wait a long time for a kiss."

Throughout the trial he wept, both in the dock and in the witness box. Giving evidence, he constantly gestured towards De Oliveira, branding him "a coward" and "a Judas".

He said: "He came to my house and ate at my table. I joked to my mother that now she had found another son, because he didn't have a mother.

"I had no malice and invited him to my mother's birthday party. He brought her flowers.

"But he is worse than Judas, because Judas had regrets. He doesn't regret anything."

He went on: "I only came to this country to earn money, nothing else. But I've never seen a country where people fight so much.

"I'm not here to harm anyone or create problems. I was never involved in problems in Brazil. I have plans for my life. Why would I do something like that ? I have three children to bring up.

"I am in jail for 14 months because of him. My god, I've never heard so many lies in my life. All of this is a nightmare."

Mr Da Rocha claimed he made an offer to police after his arrest to fit him with a secret microphone so that he could get De Oliveira to confess to John Lloyd's murder during their conversations.

"The police denied me that," he said. "They said those things only happen in films. They said we do things differently in England."

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